Post-project Review on a Resettlement Programme of the Kotapanjang Dam Project in Indonesia

The Kotapanjang Dam project, in the Sumatra Island of Indonesia, has been criticized in that it created many problems for resettled families. Affected families filed a lawsuit in Indonesian and Japanese courts. The authors conducted a field survey in four resettlement villages to evaluate the resettlement scheme applied. The survey revealed that living conditions of two villages were significantly improved after resettlement. The condition of another village was fairly improved, although there was room for further improvements. In yet another village, while many people experienced a decrease in income and hardship after the resettlement, other indicators of quality of life suggested improvements.